Dreamgirls star Beyonce Knowles has taken the top spot in this year's swimsuit edition of 'Sports Illustrated' magazine by appearing on its cover.

The ex 'Destiny's Child' front woman says it took a lot of guts for her to bare her body on the annual top-selling edition of the magazine which has featured many famous faces including Rachel Hunter and Elle Macpherson.

Beyonce said: "These are photos I can show my kids some day so I can say 'see, momma was beautiful.

'Look how good I looked'.'

She tapped into her famous onstage alter-ego Sasha who she regularly becomes when performing on stage because in real life she claims to be a shy girl.

The 25 year-old girlfriend of rap superstar Jay-Z banished her dad from the photo shoot because it was so revealing although he did give her his blessing.